Author: Eddy, Junius

Publication Year: 1981

Media Type: Book

Summary:

This book is a compelling narrative of a journey that Junius Eddy and photographer Roger Vaughan made into a world that the vast majority of Americans knows little about and does not willingly enter. It is a world inhabited by children. Exceptional children. Special children. Special because they are, in fact, among the incomprehensible exceptions to the human scheme of things - a terrible ironic joke on mankind.

Abstract:

This book is a compelling narrative of a journey that Junius Eddy and photographer Roger Vaughan made into a world that the vast majority of Americans knows little about and does not willingly enter. It is a world inhabited by children. Exceptional children. Special children. Special because they are, in fact, among the incomprehensible exceptions to the human scheme of things - a terrible ironic joke on mankind. For these children function at what are termed the severe and profound levels of mental retardation and handicap. Whatever their chronological age, by most developmental criteria only a very few of these children will ever progress beyond this twilight of early childhood.

Junius Eddy documents a project in which a group of professional artists - a dancer, an actress, a musician, a visual artist and a puppeteer - explore new ways of reaching, motivating and teaching these children. The schools, in Texas, California and Maryland were selected by the National Committee, Arts for the Handicapped. (Front flap of dust jacket)

CONTENTS
Preface.
Introduction by Robert Coles.

1. The project.
2. The pilot sites.
3. Special children, special teachers.
4. An infusion of artists:
         Walton Center, November 1978.
         Great Oaks, February 1979.
         Special Care School, March 1979.
         Walton Center, June 1979.
5. Speculating on the outcomes.

Appendix: some case studies.
A few representative children in sharper focus.
Project evaluation - A summary by Hugh McBride, PhD.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Cultural Diversity